Sackboy: A Big Adventure

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time

Every now and then there comes those games or franchises that strike your psyche at the oddest moments and leave you wondering; just what in the heck happened to that game? Perhaps it was an old favourite of yours, or just some niche title that you used to play, or some strange game that you used to binge around your cousin's house but never knew the name of and only discovered years later that it's the least loved of a critically adored series. (That was DMC 2, for anyone interested.) For pretty much this entire console generation that game for me was 'LittleBigPlanet' and it's mythical next entry which never seemed to materialise. I remember how much of a huge deal the original LBP was, with it's Stephen Fry narration and gameplay which championed creativity and personality. Whatever happened to that series?

I remember the first game very fondly, as the one game that I never got the chance to play myself because I was a pauper and all I ever owned was a PSP. Although that console's LBP game (which was also called 'LittleBigPlanet' for some reason) proved a suitable enough replacement. It was an enjoyable puzzle-based adventure that deployed a purposeful 'blank-slate' aesthetic in order to provide a suitable canvas for the light world manipulation/painting tools available to the player. Nowhere is this more perfectly realised than in the protagonist; Sackboy. He was quite literally just a cloth sack fashioned into the shape of a little doll, nothing particularly exotic or frilly about that. (Unless you count the sentient sack-doll as being 'exotic'; but come on, we see those everyday.) That plainness made him perfect fodder to play dress-up with various outfits and cosplay as some of the many memorable characters that Sony has a license for. (Although, the cosplays usually came at an additional premium. Mini DLC was getting pretty out-of-hand back then.)

Every newer entry of the game expanded on the core concepts of creativity and individualism and it was refreshing to have such a malleable creation-centric game get backing from a major games studio. Which was why it was such a shame that the last title, LBP 2, was so long ago and they never made a version for Playstat- what do you means there's a LittleBigPlanet 3? And it was cross platform with the PS3 and PS4? How didn't I know about this? And, more importantly, why didn't Sony market this at all? Now I think back to it, I vaguely remember a tie-in promotion between a LBP title (it may have been 3) and the 'Final Fantasy 7 Remake', which was likely before one of it's many delays. But that still pales in comparison to the frontlining treatment that the franchise used to enjoy at the height of it's popularity. It as though Sony grew bored of the 'creative darling' and wanted to move in more linear paths. (i.e. Ghost of Tsushima, LOU II, Days Gone and all those sorts of games.) The only such game to get any sort of press from Sony since was last year's 'Dreams', but you don't even really hear much about that anymore unless you're directly in it's community. (Oh, and 'Dreams' was made by the same team as LBP. Surprise, Surprise.) When, oh when, would our classically nondescript hero be making his way back to consoles?

Very soon, it would seem, as 'Sackboy: A Big Adventure' was announced for Playstation 5 and it looks to be taking the franchise firmly out of the 2.5D thing they had going on and into the glorious, over-saturated, 3D world. (Still with platforming. Okay, maybe it's a lot more platformer than adventurer) That's right, after all this time 'Sumo Digital' has taken a break from their busy schedule of... assisting IOI in making Hitman 2 by working on the Columbia and Isle of Sgail levels? Nani? (Guess I like these guys' work and I didn't even know it.) But is this truly a return to custom creation greatness? Especially when 'Dreams' is still relatively fresh off the presses and it would probably be poor form to directly compete with a game constructed my members of your old team? Well, it's actually hard to tell at this point but if the trailer is anything to go by then this might be the largest departure from what LittleBigPlanet was then we've seen from the franchise to date. (Which may explain the drastic name change.)

Now usually I like to approach these blogs with a healthy amount of breaking things down and picking out things I see, but here there's really no need for something so structured as the trailer is mostly just a hodgepodge of gameplay. (Something I do not, actually, bemoan.) If you want to get a decent idea of what this game is then you have the single most informative trailer possible right there at the tip of your fingers. In terms of marketing the highs and lows of the game in question, this is exactly what fans of these events have been asking for; a unbridled gameplay trailer with no pacing, story or anything substantial to justify it's existence beyond being an advert. So there you people go, your freakin' welcome. (Yeah, I'm a little bit salty. I like Story trailers, but apparently that makes me 'part of the problem' now...) But let us get back on track and, while we're at it, let me possibly save you some time by giving you the downlow; it basically just looks like your run-of-the-mill action/adventure platformer.

Now don't get wrong, that hurts just as much for me to say as it likely does for fans to accept. I am, afterall, someone who bought the promise of LittleBigPlanet and it's feeding of imagination at complete face value. I lauded it's unique approach to gameplay, puzzle solving and enemy encounters. And yet here I am watching this trailer for 'Sackboy: A Big Adventure' being entertained, but not impressed. But before I start moaning I will reiterate; I do like some of the things I'm seeing from this trailer. As far as action/adventure platformers go, LBP has a pleasing vibrant and vertical world that nicely fits into that genre without seeming anything like a departure from the norm. In fact, this probably looks like the game that everybody imagined when they were first told the bare minimum about LBP. It's such a natural progression for the games to take it seems almost right. But then, perhaps it's too natural of a progression, if you get what I mean.

LittleBigPlanet, as an institution, prided itself on being just that little bit oddball and off-the-wall in a manner that attempted to subvert your expectations. Instead of some cool, quippy main character you got a dead-eyed sackdoll as your protagonist for this world; anytime some encounter would be built up to make you expect a traditional one-on-one it would materialise as some crazy contraption that required active puzzling to defeat. These were the building blocks of LittleBigPlanet, and I don't see any of that in 'Sackboy: A Big Adventure'. I see an adventure with Sackboy beating up enemies in a traditional manner and hopping through very traditional hoops to reach his goal. None of it looks shoddy or badly done, not in the slightest, but it all just seems very safe and 'like a platformer should be', rather than what LittleBigPlanet wanted to be. So in a way I'm critiscing the game for looking too clean. (Does that make me the weirdo? It does, doesn't it.)

At the end of the day I suppose it comes down to a matter of taste and preference, and whilst I'm a man who likes a good platformer now and then, my palette was more attuned to the old LittleBigPlanet games over what I'm seeing here. Although if you're more open minded than me then I totally understand why this might be a title that's totally up your street! It looks great, with it's vibrancy, energy and pure thematic consistency. (the textile fabric world aesthetic always won me over) I wonder, yet again, how much this title desperately needs the power of the Playstation 5 to achieve it's wonders, but I won't deny that the game looks great. Unfortunately, it's just not what I'm looking for and thus it seems my wait for a true new LittleBigPlanet shall continue for a few years more.

Returnal

Break the cycle, before the cycle breaks me

In-house published games are the sorts of products that I most expect from the sorts of events that Playstation and Xbox ran this month. The sorts of games that the big companies put their logo, and thus their reputation, behind resemble this sort of hail-mary approach to product funding ("If we just put our money and faith in the hands of some folk with big dreams it'll either be a bestseller or a bargain bin filler"). These are the sorts of arrangements that gave us The Last of Us, Crackdown, Spiderman PS4 and Halo, so there's certainly a sort of pedigree of quality that one expects in these instances. It's like an arranged marriage; even if you're unfamiliar with the work of the other party the very fact that the process itself is occurring creates expectations and responsibilities that people anticipate. (Is that a good analogy? It didn't sound like a good analogy.)

Today one such game is the latest title from Finnish developer Housemarque, known as Returnal. Now whilst I might be unfamiliar with just about every-single game on this company's resume (Aside from the 'Angry Birds Trilogy' console port) I do know that they're being published by Sony for this particular game and the heads of this event thought the title itself was strong enough to stand in the lineup of their advertising efforts for this event; so there must be something worth talking about, right? That was the thought probably going into showcasing this spacey looking title, and I must admit that it does seem to neatly fit into that little stable of first-party games that Sony is trying to build. Afterall, they've got 2 post apocalyptic titles (wait, make that 3. I forgot Horizon), innumerable action adventures, Sci-fi's out the wazoo, but no straight space title. (Xbox teased one so Sony should have one too, right?)

The trailer starts in a manner that pretty much throws all of it's cards on the table for everyone to see. We see a space pilot falling out of the sky onto an alien world complaining about reliving the same moments over and over again. (If you've already figured out this game's genre, good on you!) "Even death is no escape" our heroine bemoans whilst the trailer flashes through very Gothic looking monsters and sights. To this I have to admit I'm not really feeling the sci-fi vibes that this game apparently is putting down, much the opposite, in fact this game reminds me quite a bit of Dark Souls from the way it's framed. Yeah I know the meme, "everything is compared to Dark Souls", but think about it from this perspective; you've got a lady with no past waking up in a world she doesn't recognise and forced to fight and die over and over. ("Your wings shall burn in anguish time and time again" Dark Souls 2 anyone?) That atop the inhabitants of this world that don't really look all that alien but more twisted reflections of our world, similar to Dark Souls, and I'm left wondering if this title isn't meant to be Sony's first-party answer to the 'From Software' masterpiece.

In the manner of all these 'stranded on an alien planet' stories, our less-than-wise protagonist then starts talking about how this alien place "is becoming part of me." (Well then maybe you shouldn't go around offering your DNA to every gross tentacle monster you happen across, miss astronaut lady!) I'm not sure whether this 'infection' idea will be used as an actual gameplay idea or just a narrative tool but it once again reminds me of Dark Souls. Remember how every single undead who you came across in that title would warn you to give up on your pursuits as every death brings you closer to becoming 'Hollow'? In a meta-sense, that idea was used to symbolise the player literally losing hope and giving up, (or maybe even losing their minds. Do you think From Software were going that deep?) and from the dialogue in this trailer I feel this game might be similar. But one thing that I'm pretty positive of is that this idea will be used to fuel the inevitable RPG mechanics that this game will run. (For gaining powers that transcend the player's deaths, and things like that.)

The final part of the trailer is more just a montage of the sort of action that you can expect to experience in this game and therefore I have to admit, my Dark Souls comparisons do sort of fall short here. This game looks to be a third-person shooter with a considerably faster pace than Dark Souls; in fact, the multicoloured beams and particles that we see getting fired off from enemies implies a distinct 'bullet-hell' vibe to the game, which could mean this title owes it's soul more to 'Nier: Automata.' (Two Nier references in one week? Must be my birthday.) I wonder, then, for the variety of interesting enemies and attack patterns that we'll see from this game's almost Lovecraftian looking enemies. (I said 'Almost', purists; get off my back.) Personally, I loved Neir's 3D take on the bullet-hell genre and to see another game that appears to borrowing that concept (at least a little bit, there are some other types of damaging attacks in this trailer that don't appear to leave glowing trails) makes me a little giddy and a lot happy.

Now, as this trailer and myself has teased quite heavily throughout; this title is actually a roguelike third person shooter. (Thus the repetition) Space pilot mentions how each time she dies she awakens to a world that looks drastically different, and I'll bet that's with no weapons or tools each time as well. I've always appreciated this sort of gameplay that props itself up on the premise of replayability and gambling against the great RNG gods, it's what made classics like 'The Binding of Issac' so unforgettable. Although I've never quite seen a game seriously take into account the narrative connotations of dying and repeating the same-yet different actions time and time again, how that cycle could test you and wear on your sanity. I'm not sure quite how strong these elements are intended to be for the final game, (the trailer seems to imply that they're central) but if this will be a game to address that angle, then this could be quite a genre redefiner indeed!

The search for answers that drives Returnal is something that I hope is present just as much throughout the game as it is in this trailer, mind bending plotlines are my nectar. Some of the brief glances in this game seem to mix our Space Pilot's old life on earth with the crazy going-ons in this hellscape, and we even see brief glimpses of proud moments in her life, as though there's a bit of actual mind games involved in this game. (Which might explain why this world isn't quite as exotic as one might expect from an alien world) Whatever the final take-away, this is another trailer that has managed to spark my critical mind and ask questions, so there's some undeniable points for the Housemarque gang. (You guys have an interesting title on your hands!)

Of course, as I do with every blog, I have to ask whether or not this was a title worthy of being showcased alongside the PS5; and once again I have to err to the negative. As impressive as this game looked from a conceptual angle, visually it did not look like anything that current gen consoles couldn't achieve. (In fact; in gameplay it looked a lot like 'Nier: Automata' which was a current gen game.) And yet with that being said, as far as I can tell this game is deadset on being a PS5 exclusive release, which could hurt this title's initial traction. Interesting though the game seems, it doesn't have the flashy factor to rope in purchasers nor does it seem to bend the limits of what the PS5 is capable of, so I fear that without heavy advertisement this could be a next-gen title that gets swept to the wayside. (I suppose time will tell in that regard.)

Once it's all said and done, however, this is the kind of game that makes we go 'ohh' and that's all that really matters, no? Even if this game may be shooting itself in the foot by going exclusive, I think it's inevitable that they'll pick up at least a niche following, and I can tell you for a fact that they've picked up one fan already. (This guy.) I'm certainly encouraged so far by this slate of next-gen titles that all appear to be actual games, rather than just experience pieces, and at this point it's really hard to choose which of the upcoming gens have the stronger line-up. (Of non-AAA games that is. Playstation clearly has the stronger AAA lineup.) So I wish good luck to the Housemarque team and their game and leave with one piece of critical feedback; 'that name sucks, seriously.'

The Isle of Armor Review

You're on the right track!

A few weeks back the Pokemon fandom was treated to something that had never been granted to any Pokemon game before in the franchise's 24 year-long lifespan; DLC. Instead of another re-release fans can enjoy an addendum to their adventures which pick up with the same characters in the same regions with the same Pokemon. Isn't that the dream? Continuous adventure? Of course, as this was the maiden implementation there were a great many questions about how this additional content would pan out, whether it would be worth the £15 asking price (which can only be paid for in a £30 Season pass as of the writing of this article), and whether this really was just a glorified Pokemon 'Booster pack' as the droves of the Internet were so quick to claim. And these are the questions that I very much intend to address over this little DLC review right here.

Firstly, I should disclose the fact that I did have my own significant reservations regarding what this DLC would entail all the way back at the first reveal. When we first saw that small island and the way that it would all be using the same 'free-roam' camera and exploration that was featured in the main game's 'wild area' I was hit with a certain worry. I feared that the apparent minuscule size of the play area would lead to a lack of story and purpose to the content, wherein I would finish the story in one day and clean up my poke-collection in the next day to be done with the DLC on the eve of the third. In my mind; that was the absolute worst case scenario of a DLC like this; to be so incredibly undercooked. My concerns built as I learned more about the small scope of the story and in a sense they were met, whilst also being sidestepped entirely; but I'm getting ahead of myself

Following the downloading of the update earlier this year, 'Sword and Shield' fans will encounter a surprise run in with their respective version-exclusive DLC trainer at Wedgehurst Station. (That's the psychic-eccentric 'Avery' for Shield and the Poison-loving 'Klara' for Sword) Such encounter will have lumped these players with a Galarian Slowpoke that had no Pokedex number/entry and couldn't yet be evolved, giving them prime reason to anticipate the DLC. (Also, Galarian Slowpoke just happens to be a 'Psychic-Poison' Type in direct relation to the two DLC stars; who'd a thunk it.) It wasn't until the DLC, however, where fans got magically inundated with an 'Isle of Armor' pass that allowed them to return to Wedgehurst and follow the same line this Slowpoke snuck onto in order to get to 'The Isle of Armor' (A journey which immediately highlights a narrative inconsistency as this Slowpoke was said to have crawled onto the train, but the train line ends firmly in Galar with a Corviknight sky-taxi taking you the rest of the way to 'Armor'. Seems our Slowpoke is a bit a ninja.)

The Isle of Armor itself is quite what one would expect from a small island with the exception that it's variation of atmosphere's seem rather extreme. (And to think I was criticising 'Breakpoint's Auroa for the same thing.) You have sandy beaches, (an impossibility in England) archipelagos, a swamp, caves, a dense forest, (nothing like Glimwood but still pretty overgrown) and even some desert area. All this variety is crammed within a relatively small play space compared to the base title with one key standout; it can all be explored at the player's own pace. From the second that you arrive at Armor, you have freereign to explore where-ever you want to and come accustomed to their new land, and you'll really want to because if you've any sort of attachment to the Pokemon endgame; you'll likely be spending a lot of time here.

Once you arrive, however, you are presented with a bit of a story hook in that you are immediately mistaken to be the new recruit from the 'Master Dojo'; the only piece of infrastructure on the entire island. Klara (or Avery) is tasked with escorting you to the Master Dojo, however they loathe competition and after a brief bout (In which you presumably wipe the floor with them as you'll have finished the game and have a ludicrously overpowered team by this point; right?) they'll come to the conclusion that you are too powerful and will undermine their reputation. This calls to the return of a classic Pokemon trope that has been missing for the past few entries; the rival. For a while now Pokemon games have been replacing their traditional rivals with 'companions' who 'join you for the adventure'; but this lacks that drive to prove yourself in their sneering face as one might experience with old-school rivals like Gary. Klara's mean-girl competitiveness did sort of gleam with that same spark and I hear Avery has a similar dynamic with the player, which I find to be a welcome return to form.

As it turns out; The Master Dojo is an Asian-style training facility built on this island by a sweet old man named Mustard who is adamant in discovering the utmost excesses of Pokemon trainer strength. This means training folk to be better trainers, as well as pushing Pokemon to their peak performance. In fact, Mustard is even credited to have been the one who trained Leon, and I think I heard something about him becoming Champion of something somewhere. So to enter under his tutelage is certainly quite the daunting task; until you arrive and find out that it's all pretty ramshackle and these people mostly just do their own thing. (As one would expect from a laid-back Pokemon game.) But there is one important take away.

The crux of your training under Mustard, and the main framing device of the DLC, is the training of a cute legendary bear Pokemon named Kubfu. This is perhaps the first time, since Yellow at least, that a Pokemon game has focused so heavily around the relationship that the player has with a single Pokemon; but I must admit that the team did pull it off decently well in execution. It isn't the most daunting task in the world, raising Kubfu, but under the guise of 'training' the building of your relationship takes on a whole new dynamic. Should the player be willing to partake, this can be rather the endearing montage of grinding and levelling. (as the story requires the player to build the hidden stat of 'friendship', alongside normal levels.) Personally, as an endgame lover, I took this opportunity to personally EV train Kubfu with this rewarding sense of purpose whilst doing so. I've never had a Pokemon game actively encourage this sort of free-form gameplay and I was pleasantly surprised. (Of course, that won't stop some players from just dunking some EXP candy, cooking a few curries and skipping through all this; but thus is the nature of free-form gameplay: it's as fun as you make it.)

Keep up this training regime and you'll eventually be met with a choice; you'll have to take Kubfu through one of two towers of the island in order to determine his course after graduating the Dojo. There is the tower of Water, which favours the path of the multi strike attack pattern; and the tower of Darkness, which caters to the one strike knockdown path. These towers present another unique Pokemon challenge, as you must face them in their entirety with only Kubfu in your party, which might genuinely prove a challenge if you didn't do a me and train his EV's to a point where he can cut through almost anyone before they can so much as blink. Your reward is an ultimate battle at the top of the tower with the Dojo master 'Mustard' himself (in which he reveals his 'True form') and the chance to evolve your Kubfu to a unique form of 'Urshifu', the Wushu Pokemon. (Who's appearance, type and move-set is determined by the tower you picked for the final exam.)

But that's pretty much all she wrote when it comes to this DLC in terms of story. There are some finer points that I passed but, much as the advertising suggested, the journey of collecting and earning your Urshifu is the main point of this adventure, just as I feared. So does that mean everyone was right and the rest of the DLC is characterised as a collectathon of the 100 Armor-unique Pokemon that litter the land? A chance to get all the Pokemon that they scrapped from the game at a premium? Actually no, there is a little more to it than that. You see, 'the isle of Amor', in it's very nature, represents something that the Pokemon formula has been long overdue; evolution. (That's in terms of gameplay and presentation, by-the-way.) Whilst graphics have improved in the years since the beginning, the core of Pokemon has always remained the same; you go on a very linear journey and fight through very specific gyms through towns that you have no incentive to really ever visit again once the journey is over. It was a completely fine formula to have at the time, but nowadays it feels a little hollow and was part of the reason why I, and some others, saw the jump to console as a missed opportunity for Pokemon to reinvent itself a little bit. The Isle of Armor makes up that opportunity by presenting the Pokemon formula in the shape of something it's never been before; an exploration-based free-roam adventure.

Now, this wasn't what I thought I wanted from Pokemon until I played the Isle of Armor; but after a week of being practically glued to the place; I understand the appeal fully. Besides the raid dens that little the island and shoot out to the sky (they were in the wild area for the base game) you have the Apricot trees that drop items which can be shoved into the new Cram-o-matic in exchange for a random pool of rewards, (a pool which contains some ultra-rare and unique Pokeballs), Mustard's wife: 'Honey's upgrade requests for the Dojo which requires an incredible amount of Watts (I've been at the game amassing Watts for months and I still didn't have enough to finish it),a Diglett scavenger hunt which will reward milestones with regional-variations of SWSH Pokemon (A reward that I actually appreciate and want) and various scattered NPCs that impart the player with everything from region-variant trade opportunities to the chance to completely clean a Pokemon's EVs for a nominal price. (Something that's absolutely invaluable for endgame Pokemon building.) All these little additions to this island make me want to explore and come back to this location that I've seen a hundred times already; which is something that Pokemon has never been capable of before!

I don't think I'm alone in saying; this is the sort of blueprint that future Pokemon titles should be following in order to add more replay value to their games. Building their worlds to be exploration-reliant, full of secrets, reasons to return to old places and free-to-explore should be the design philosophy of the entire franchise and I'm entirely sold on that concept. Whatsmore; I appreciate Armor's new mode that is built for endgame players who have already built that perfect team which can wipe through the 'Battle Tower'. 'Limited Battles' does the exact same thing as the 'Battle Tower' with the exception that your team of three has to all be of the same type, (dual type Pokemon are allowed as long as there's still one common type between them) you have to fight 5 consecutive rounds and are only allowed to restore Pokemon between rounds 2 times and there are no restorative items beyond those you literally put in each monster's hold slot. It's a brutally gruelling challenge that awakens that desire to improve in a manner no other mode from the game quite so perfectly encompasses. (Not even the battle tower to be honest) As a lover of challenges, I look forward to spending the next few months building and testing the right teams for literally every challenge type; because that's the sort of min-maxing play that this DLC encourages.

So yes, from the eye of a minimalist one could look at the short storyline and conclude that this DLC was an empty waste (for the story is incredibly short); but for those take the time to engage with the larger and harder Pokemon systems (which, admittedly, aren't for everyone) there's undoubtedly something special about this isle. To the point where I am honestly excited about the Crown Tundra and the extra concepts it'll introduce when it comes around. (Such as the franchises' first regional-variant legendaries!) With that in mind, I can say that if you are a lover of the Pokemon world and games then the Isle of Armour is easily worth the asking price and a must-have for no other reason than to take a glance of what potentially peak modern-Pokemon game design can look like. But if you enjoy Pokemon on a purely casual level (just there to play the story and experience that alone) you won't be around long-enough to find anything near your investment's worth here. So in that sense I do heavily recommend Armor, but on a provisional basis. And, one must take into account how you currently cannot buy the DLC separately and must pay for another DLC as well just to try this one. Therefore, I must will say that the curious should wait until a sale, as unless you've the heart to commit, you may be left slightly out-of-pocket by The Isle of Armor.

So a mixed bag with a lot of hope thrown in there. (some of which, I'll admit, might be self imparted.) As such I'll stick this review with my very first rating (because I've decided to do that now) and label 'The Isle of Armor' as a C-rate DLC. I know, that seems a bit strange given my applause but I rationalise it like this; as the potential requires significant investment from the player, the DLC is capable of disappointing a lot of people. Go in invested and you can expect a B experience, don't and you'll get a D experience; cut the difference and you get a C. In summary; The Isle of Armour is a bundle that is brimming with potential and may just be the blueprint for a bright future for the franchise. But it's short narrative length will undoubtedly leave some wanting.

The road to Cyberpunk: 5 month to go.

I've seen things...

Yep, it's time to settle down and talk about the biggest game of the year right now pretty much bar none. (TLOU 2 has certainly gotten close but I'm pretty such Cyberpunk is going to leave it in the dust, at least in units moved.) Two days back, our expectant eyes were treated to a veritable 5-course meal of new footage, information and hype. (I'm characterising hype as being absorbed only by the eyes, for some reason, just go with it.) Since then I've spent the entire last two days either watching, reading and rewatching everything I could regarding Cyberpunk or doing other things to keep my body functioning whilst thinking about Cyberpunk. The hype shakes have hit me bad, man; I'm at the point where I'm considering replaying 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' just to get me in the right frame of mind. (And I already have so many other games to get through right now so that really isn't the most helpful urge.) But what can I say? I'm a man in love and there's nothing I can do aside from think about it every moment of everyday. Thus, I'm going to summarise everything I've learnt because it excites me; savvy?

So as you'll most likely have already seen, the folks at CDPR have graced us with an entire trailer's worth of new footage in a video entitled 'The Gig.' In this we get another look at that delightfully Bladerunner-esque world, as well as some surprising shots of the wide open Badlands that carry a very GTA/Mad Max vibe. (Which makes sense as this is literally depicting the same location that GTA V did.) In fact, this entire trailer just screamed Grand Theft Auto, from the studio's choice of music, the trailer's abundance of action shot set-pieces and the running narrative of some sort of grand heist that we know is doomed to go wrong. This is the sort of 'story trailer' that one would expect to head the final month of advertising before the release of the game, spelling out of the grand narrative and laying out all the best beans on the table; and yet CDPR decided to knock everyone for two when they turned around and said that everything we saw was strictly from the prologue sections of the game. (Which is a little misleading, admittedly, for reasons I'll go into later.)

Sticking strictly to the game (the other stuff is alright but I'm not incredibly infused at the idea of an Anime that's coming out in two years and might not even be good. I know that the studio also worked on 'Kill La Kill' but one huge success alone does not guarantee quality) the biggest thing we saw out of the streamed event in terms of gameplay was probably the Brain Dance feature; which is something that both intrigues and concerns me. Brain Dance, or BD, refers to a recording device that is implanted in one's cybernetics and allows for experiences to be captured and shared; simple enough. In the game the player can use this to see moments from the past in a style very similar to Batman Arkham's detective mode; wherein clues from the environment can be deduced to tell a story of past events. What this essentially means is that the player can enter the memories of another person and see an important moment they lived through and wanted recorded. As the developers explained, this allows for perspectives to be explored that wouldn't normally be seen such as those focusing around religion, philosophy and- childhood trauma? (Those are their examples, not mine.) In terms of gameplay this means you can go full 'investigator' on the BD recordings and identify irregularities from the scenes to pick out and examine in order to get at some deeper truth. This makes for an interesting change of pace from all the fast-action that we've seen from other gameplay sections and I love the diversity. This alone might give the game a more varied pace than the modern Deus Ex games.

 Now this is all very good for fulfilling the cyberpunk fantasy, but I wonder at how prevalent this will actually be and if it'll end up just being a showy gimmick. Look to the 'memory editing' from 'Remember Me'; throughout that game there were four instances in which you actually used the power the entire premise of the game was balanced on (With the last one literally making no sense) and it never felt like something the player was in control of. Now from what I hear there are a few instances of BD in the prologue (I think I heard 3, but I may have misheard that. I'm been watching a lot of footage on this game, it all starts to jumble after a while.) so I only hope that CDPR go the extra mile and make some really indepth examples of this feature. All I want is one or two BD sections that feel like real investigations, where you may get stumped and have to look at situations from new angles. That'll hold great potential for pacing and tension establishment, especially in crucial plot threads.

Yet even though that was all we really saw from Cyberpunk in terms of the livestream, that was by no means the end of actual things we learned about the game due to the fact that select critics were flown out to play the title and give their words on it. Alongside that, the Internet has been inundated with about 20 minutes worth of B-roll that I've watched in it's entirety, so it's fair to say I have vacuumed up as much Cyberpunk content as humanly possible. It is due to all this background that I saw how CDPR's claim of all the trailer footage being prologue footage is a tiny bit misleading; because there are actually three prologues in Cyberpunk 2077.

With the more disseminated and sanitised version of picking your 'background' in Cyberpunk 2077 (compared to what we saw from the original gameplay trailer) comes three specific 'life paths' which come with three unique starting positions into the world of Cyberpunk. Either you become a Street thug who's lived all their life in Heywood, Night City; a Nomad who's entered the Badlands surrounding the city and is looking for a way in; or a Corpo agent who works for Arasaka before getting involved in a deal gone wrong. From what I can tell, all of these intros have starkly different stories to tell (much in the same vein, I've heard some say, to the character intros in 'Dragon Age: Origins') but they'll all funnel you down into the same story by the end of the action where you're alongside Jackie Welles and pulling an ambitious heist which leaves you the target of the entire city. (And sticks you with your personal head-Keanu Reeves)

Now all of this sounds frankly amazing for the realms of repeatability. I know that I've played through the intro portions of 'Dragon Age: Origins' alone dozens of times in order to explore every possible permutation of storyline and can imagine doing the same for this game. This rings especially true since every outlet who has touched this game seems to be singing the same praises of huge, regular, choices throughout the missions which drastically change up the circumstances. They've even mentioned how some of the different directions taken in the Militech sales mission (from the very first showcase footage) go beyond what even the narrator teased. There's so many branches that make different allies, other's that change objectives, some which require skill checks, (New Vegas hype!) that it simply boggles the mind. And to parrot the developers; this is still just the prologue! Now does this mean that same level of freedom and choice will bleed out into the rest of the game, perhaps not, but it leaves room open for hope and I'm hoping up a storm right now.

In terms of the utilities, we've gotten a closer and more intimate look at what we can safely assume will be the final look of a bunch of more stable elements, such as the HUD. This newer HUD doesn't quite share the same dark red 80's vibe of the one we saw from a couple years back, but it hasn't lost that style either. I was worried that whilst this game matured they would retreat to a more proto-typical 'slick' HUD for this futuristic game, but actually they've seemingly retained that endearing retro-futuristic aesthetic that has characterised certain portions of Cyberpunk. (You rarely see that style executed in a serious manner, I appreciate it.) We've also heard word on the customisation system which, to my utmost relief, has been described as 'impressively robust'. (I'm paraphrasing, don't try to quote-check me.) One fellow did crown this as 'the most extensive character creator that they've ever seen from a game', but I'm laying some serious 'X to doubt' on that because without even having played the game I can definitely name at least two games which undoubtedly surpass it. (But if this title is even comparative to Fallout 4's creator I'll be more than happy.) Particular attention has been paid around options to change the length of nails, browse around 30 haircuts, mess with facial wire-work, mix-and-match genitalia, adjust the size of genitalia and choose between a circumcised or uncircumcised penis. (Lot's of genitalia questions. I have real strong questions about what sort of game this is. Like, when is the circumcision-status of my character's penis going to come into play? Wait, new question: do I want an answer to that?)

I think the real draw of this game, the thing that makes it so hard to wrap one's head around, is the sheer number of aspects that CDPR are trying to tackle at once. This was always the case, even in the casting-call stage, (rather than becoming a consequence of uncontrolled feature-creep à la 'Star Citizen') and it's incredible to see that same spirit alive and well all these years later into active development. You have the driving which seems to share it's heart with Grand Theft Auto and has been enriched with gorgeously varied vehicular designs, high-speed gun fight set pieces and even entire radio tracks worth of songs created for the Cyberpunk world. (That alone still blows my mind) There's fighting which revolves around gunplay but leaves enough room for some rudimentary fist-fights, both of which has, so far, been found to be satisfactory by pundits. Stealth, which is my usual goto, that is realised in restricted areas, multiple pathways and hacking. And a seemingly unparalleled-in-detail simulated open world that boasts varied crowd mechanics, a day night cycle, bounties, incidental quests, developed side quests and likely all manner of things that contribute to make the world of Night City feel "lived in". All of that is held up by an RPG backbone that sounds significantly robust and impressive. There are skills which can be improved by partaking in them, (The Elder Scrolls style) extensive perk trees and attribute cards and even a 'street cred' system which steadily unlocks activities and purchase-ables as you progress. (Admittedly I typically hate such systems and find them pointless, but coming from CDPR I'm open minded enough to give them a chance.)

And that, in a long winded nutshell, is everything that CDPR have let loose about their, much-delayed, November title; and boy is it a lot. I never imagined we'd reach this level of detail and transparency before the release of the game and whilst I find their confidence both refreshing and encouraging, honestly, I'm on the fence about whether or not I like it. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving all I'm hearing about Cyberpunk but I wonder if I wouldn't prefer to go in a lot more blind. But I'm hooked now, I'm in that accursed content cycle, I have to see everything this game has to offer and I only hope that doesn't ruin the final game for me when it launches. Whether it scuppers that important surprise or not, it seems that these Cyberpunk live streams will be hitting us on a monthly basis so I'll be there to summarise what we learn like the robot trapped to his programming that I am. Despite my worries, I'm ready and eager to hear more about this title and await next month with irresponsible abandon. (Continue to blow me away, CDPR!)

Stray

The Cats shall inherit the Earth.

When it comes to a video game that wants to make me go "Wow, isn't that pretty" there are few notes such a title can hit. Either it can reach a level of graphical fidelity that stops me dead for it's undeniable quality, it can beat me around the head with fast graphics and bright lights until I'm too desensitised to be anything other than impressed, or it can be so visually interesting or imaginatively arresting that I want to take the time to stop and see it all. As one can imagine, that last one is often the hardest to manage and thus it's the type of reaction I seek the most; therefore you can imagine how interested I was when I saw the positively gorgeous trailer for 'Stray' during the PlayStation 5 reveal event. (Double points for the game actually being about a cat, because that alone makes any game quite literally 500 times better.)

A lot of the games that Sony decided to showcase during this event were, as I've previously mentioned, addendums to proven unit pushers or well beloved series. Now that observation isn't made to denigrate PlayStation, not at all, as any person would I find comfort in seeing the familiar; but this approach did leave us with fewer opportunities to come across the really *out there* games that push the limits of what we expect to see. Ideally I'd hope for a balance between those two extremes, as I tune into these events to see new things as much I do the things that I already expect, but then maybe that's just me. (I don't have access to any focus groups, what do I know?) Although to Sony's credit, neither party was left too in the lurch, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten a look at this odd little exploration game that looks to be quite the water-cooler experience game. (On an unrelated note: I always hated that 'Water-cooler' expression. What kind of psychopath comes up to you at work whilst you're getting a drink in order to blab about inane crap to you? Who is that unabashedly crass and how long before they can be locked away for heinous crimes against public decency?)

The key prevailing thematic note that accompanies this entire trailer appears to be this idea of muted futurism; where the world around you is clearly more advanced then the one you know, but not in a manner that drastically changes the makeup of life. In this instance, we undergo a journey from the grey gutters awash with poverty to the neon pseudo-Asian streets with the biggest departure from reality being the fact that just about every single person in the trailer who isn't a feline just happens to be a robot. That distinction aside, we observe these robotic individuals adopting very human personas and roles in this society, with some robots huddled up on the streets seeking warmth, others getting tune-ups in what looks to be this world's version of a barber's shop and just drivers cruising down busy streets in Tuk-Tuks. This could just as easily be a depiction of anywhere in Mumbai or Bangkok if not for the robots everywhere.

Of course, this intriguing premise already opens up some very interesting questions about the world in which we reside; which is just about the best thing one can hope to achieve through a trailer like this. Who invented these robots, is an important one, and why do they look so similar to humans and seem to act like their replacements? As for the question of "Where are all the humans", the trailer actually does subtly provide the beginning hooks for that particular mystery in the world details. One mostly static shot of a robot digging through trash for some object is heavily ruled by graffiti over the walls, one of the most distinct of these artworks features the tag "RIP Humans" alongside a heart. So humanity has apparently moved on, but what caused this and why is it that whoever left this note appears to be happy with the arrangement? Did the robots murder their creators and overthrow society in the kind of uprising that we see done over and over again in every Sci-fi story ever, or is something a little more interesting and original going on? And why, in this automaton ruled world, is there a stray kitty observing it all? All curious questions that I feel genuinely intrigued to go check out. (This trailer is really doing it's job!)

Of course, with this set-up I find it hard not to compare this sort of world with similar concepts I've witnessed, with perhaps the closet paradigm from my experience being the world of Platinum's 'Neir: Automata'. 'Neir: Automata' takes place on a lifeless Earth that served as the battlegrounds for a war against humans and aliens long ago, until the planet itself became uninhabitable. In the generations since, both the humans and aliens have continued their conflict but with the deployment of mechanical beings to fight in their stead. For the aliens they sent these simple-looking geometric robots and the humans sent Androids modelled after themselves. After centuries of this, both sides have been out of contact with their creators for long enough to forget exactly why they fight and what for and instead just try to live in this strange world that neither of them were born in. (Albeit, still largely as enemies) Through this we get to see the reflection of the elements and themes that made our society through the eyes of outsiders who whittle them down to their core essences. Narratively, that's a perfect vehicle for a great introspective adventure and that's the same vibes I'm getting from these blocky-yet humanoid robots in 'Stray'. (Although, to be fair, these guys do seem to have a much easier time integrating with our old society.)

As far as the pedigree of those involved with this project, I've saddened to say that I can't find anything concrete. All I know is that this game is being put together by a studio called 'Blue Twelve' and that they apparently have never made a video game before. (Or if they have then they need to be better about displaying their discography because I can't find it.) Now, considering that this is a relationship with Sony in showcasing this virgin studio's project that alone might ring a few alarm bells. We all remember how Sony underwent a similar 'pedestal propping' routine with 'Hello Games' and their first high-concept game; 'No Man's Sky'. Sony paraded around that game for years, never once checking if the developers actually had the resources to create that lofty dream and merely threw them under the bus when it all blew up. Although that was a much more lofty ambition then what 'Stray' appears to be, so perhaps there is nothing to worry about and I'm splitting more hairs than a bling hairdresser. (But I've seen way too many examples in this industry of folk who never learn from their mistakes, so who knows?)

When it comes to the publisher however, Annapurna Interactive, there's certainly a lot more to talk about in terms of the quality of products that they've backed. These guys seem to have a knack for sweeping up all those indie-looking experience pieces that seemed destined to become instant critical darlings. They were involved in carpet-simulator 'Journey', walker/investigator 'What remains of Edith Finch', pretty show-stealer 'Sayonara Wild Hearts', and time-bending investigator 'Outer Wilds'. What I'm trying to say is, these guys tend to back the winning horse when it comes to titles like these so seeing their name attached is certainly a huge vote of confidence for the project. Maybe this quaint looking robot/cat simulator is destined for just as great things; with those names behind it, I wouldn't be surprised.

But at the end of the day the real question one should be asking is whether or not this was exactly the right fit for a show that was meant to be teasing the new generation of consoles. I mean, it's the question I ask every blog and only rarely get a clear answer from. This game in particular appears to have benefited in only the utmost most arbitrary ways from this tech jump (With improved framerate and resolution, I suppose) and that might be the reason why the game is set to hit current generation hardware too. I guess it makes sense, in the absence of an official E3 everybody would instead use the platform of 'showing off the next gen' to pimp their exclusivity deals, but it just muddies the purpose of these events in my eyes. But none of that reflects poorly on Stray, because the more folk who get their hands on this title the better in my eyes. This game looks intriguing and I can't wait to try it out for myself. (PC release guys? I hope so.)

Pokemon Unite

Aha hahahaha. I can't, I gonna die.

I can't remember the last time I've been so inundated with blog topics, but trust me when I say that this takes priority over them all! So a while back there was this little impromptu stream from The Pokemon Company which, whilst not technically a Pokemon Direct, drummed up a sufficient amount of excitement and hype to pass as such. There were some Pokemon Go updates, some new mobile Pokemon games announced, and a really cool challange for Pokemon Sword and Shield that coincided with the release of 'The isle of Armor' wherein community to had to have 1000000 players slay a special raid-den Zeozora in exchange for a free shiny Zeozora if we hit it. (And we did, by-the-by, so we can expect that boon in our Pokemon Home apps come next Monday) But there was one topic on Which The Pokemon Company were less than forthcoming, a secret announcement that they wanted to push forward to a week later stream. To yesterday, in fact. What could it be, the crowd wondered... Maybe even that Generation 4 remake that some people apparently really want and I can't comprehend why. (I got my Gen 3 remake, that's all I want.)

The days were tense in the leading week to this second stream; filled with naught but wild speculation and the dying cries of golden mythical Zeozoras. (Because I refuse to believe anyone legitimately killed the shiny silver ones; those guys were on a whole other level.) People wound themselves up so tight in anticipation for some impossible announcement that all the enthusiast Pokemon boards were alight. What could be so important that the Pokemon Company sought to separate it from all the other announcements from the other day? Why did it deserve a stream of it's own? Is this the next mainline entry? A deep-dive into The Crown Tundra? Whatever it is, it must be something incredible to be worthy of all this build up!

And then we got 'Pokemon Unite'. 11 straight minutes, of 'Pokemon Unite'. "But what exactly is 'Pokemon Unite'" I here you ask. Well, dear friends; let me illuminate you. Imagine an incredibly overcrowded genre of games that's taken up by the dominance of two big titles. Well call these games, MOBAs. Now imagine Pokemon up in there. That's it, 'Pokemon Unite' in a nutshell. It's  a MOBA. That's what everyone was waiting for and losing their minds over in anticipation. This is what The Pokemon Company felt was worth delaying an announcement for! Dedicating 11 consecutive minutes to! A battle MOBA. Now I'll be honest, initially I found this incredibly funny, (and I still pretty much do) but time has matured me a little and now I'll only laughing at the idea instead of also laughing at the fans who got their hopes up. (But seriously; you think they'd announce the next game during the content cycle of their current one? Get real!)

But let's look at this honestly for a moment; A Pokemon MOBA. From a franchise built on the back of accessibility and pick-and-play fun, to a genre of games characterised by their taxing gameplay demands and tactical leanings. Any other franchise and I'd call that a curious step forward but here I'm just left thinking that TPC have severely misunderstood their audience. Add onto that, the fact that the MOBA genre is almost synonymous with gatekeeping and toxicity (Yes, I've heard that LOL has been working on that recently but the reputation is set in the bedrock by this point) and you have such a puzzle match for a kids series that it's honestly just comical. Maybe that's just me, however, as it seems everyone else was just plain mad. Afterall, there's got to be some reason why the footage within which this reveal was made (Which amusingly still isn't even titled 'Pokemon Unite', meaning people had to actively learn about this elsewhere and then seek this video out) has been downvoted to the phantom zone.

Even now, I can't rightly say what in the heck must have been going through anyone's mind at the time of imaging, deciding, planning and then marketing this missed-swing of a game. (There were failures seemingly at every stage of production) Pokemon has always been a franchise that has ridden off of providing the sort of gameplay experience that you can't really find elsewhere, which is what has allowed them to pull off honestly egregious practises for so long without anyone really batting an eyelid. (Selling two versions of essentially the same game, anyone?) But this time they were jumping head first in the big leagues, likely with limited knowledge of what they're getting into, and they're likely expecting to scoot by on name recognition alone. And you know what; it just might work.

Pokemon is big, guys, I mean you already had an inkling of that but until you actually look into the topic it's hard to really understand how literally globe trotting it is! If there were any brand capable of roping in a plethora of kids to joining the contentious MOBA community, it's this one. And honestly, I can't blame them. I'm curious what a Pokemon MOBA is going to look like and I'll bet you've scratched your heads during this wondering something similar. Additionally, the team made the choice of labelling this title with the eyebrow raising label they've invented called 'Free to Start', which means there's nothing to loose from just a little precursory glance. (It always starts with just a look.) They also certainly won't be running out of characters to add anytime soon so it won't be lacking in potential. Yeah, maybe fans are just upset about the presentation and the idea itself isn't entirely awful, maybe we should give this a ch- wait, they partnered with who to make this happen?

Obviously Gamefreak have no involvement with this latest attempt to squeeze the dusty teat of the Pokemon cashcow, they can just about make the same game for the past 20 years, throw them a MOBA and the entire studio might collapse in on itself in a singularity. Instead, The Pokemon Company, decided to work with a team called TiMi Studio who specialise in making online mobile games and, crucially, are Chinese. (You can probably see where this is going.) Which means that in order to make the partnership work, and to sell it in China, TPC have entered a working partnership with the Chinese government's most poorly concealed propaganda machine; Tencent. Yep, Tencent is the outreach program that China uses to sanitise anything going into their country and subtle influence elsewhere. They've censored movies, video games, and seeing as how Pokemon is a fictional kids series there's probably nothing to censor th- Sike; China has already got the name of one Pokemon changed so that it's translation features no roman characters because that country is that desperate to limit western influence that it wants to ensure it's citizens won't even recognise other languages at a glance. (Bet they're really bummed that Japan literally nabbed their alphabet now. Full isolationism denied)

Let me put you under no delusions here, Tencent is a tool for an autocratic government and you can argue about whether or not that makes them literally close to the Chinese government (Epic games certainly seems adamant on insulting everyone's intelligence in that regard) but you'd be a liar to claim that there's no connection whatsoever. So does that mean disastrous things for the Pokemon franchise now that Tencent has a direct line? Of course not, China don't need a partnership to make demands off of Pokemon; they've caved from mild suggestion in the past anyway. But it does represent an enabling of a frankly gross element in our industry that reflects badly upon the Pokemon brand. Anyone who does business with Tencent is promoting something sordid, whether directly or not, and that's not the sort of industry that anyone want's to cultivate. So let me leave you with one simple message, one directed at The Pokemon Company; think harder about the future your paving towards with the roads you blaze today.

Project Athia?

"Truths will be questioned", apparently...

If there is one tradition that went curiously under serviced during the Playstation 5 reveal event, it was that of weird new games that defy everybody's expectations. Wild brand new ideas that make the audience scratch their heads and wonder, new IPs that carry with them a bevy of unknown potential and genre defiers who plop a nude Norman Reedus down in front of you and say "This is game now." For Microsoft's event, there were a smattering of new IPs and indie projects thrown in there as that company is desperate to find at least one first party studio who can consistently put out quality to the same level as Playstation's close partners can. (They're still looking on that front) Sony are far in the lead on that regard however, so they spent quite a lot of time during their event pimping out the latest entries in well established series (which is a great way to drum up hype for a new system. Even Nintendo are familiar with that tactic.) However, that isn't to say that they didn't manage to sneak in a least one outlier within all that fan service.

If I say the name 'Square Enix' to you that probably comes with a certain degree of expectations. Perhaps they are known to you as the most westernized producers of JRPGs, or maybe as that place you go to for the gritty 'Tomb Raider Reboot', gritty 'Deus Ex' continuation, and that one story about the spiky haired kid with big shoes who has gatecrashed every popular Disney property ever at this point. But if there is one thing about Square that a lot of people forget, it's the fact that they are prolific producers who put out a frankly ludicrous amount of high quality and varied products. (It's one of the reasons why I rate these guys so highly) As such, the second that we saw their name dribble in to the list of trailers for Sony's event, it was clear that the gloves would be coming off. This could be literally anything guys; Tomb Raider 8, Chrono Trigger 2, Final Fantasy 13-4, the sky isn't even a limit with this studio. What we got instead was something interesting, yet frustrating vague; we got 'Project Athia'.

Now with that naming convention and a shred of familiarity with the game design process, you can already deduce that this is a game in very early stages of development. Afterall, the team isn't even ready to share a finished name with us, just 'Project Athia: Working title' (Unless- is that the name?) but if the game is apparently still ready for public consumption then there surely must be something there that the team wants us to see. Some sort of vision that the team knew the public would pick up upon. Me, I'm always more a fan of the games that put their cards more clearly on the table, for the second you open things up to the audience's wider imagination you are setting them up for disappointment, but at least one mystery game to ponder upon isn't going to sink the industry, so I'll bite. What is Project Athia?

Well isn't that just the question of the hour? What we've seen so far has been quite the interesting amalgamation of imagery to pick through that it's tough getting to grips with what we should take away. On one hand we see a lot of fantastical and medieval looking imagery around the trailer, with fire-leaking hell wolves and old gibbet-strewn castle walls. Yet one the otherhand we have a somewhat modern looking protagonist with her side-part hairstyle and rundown trainers. Of course, the trailer itself explains this with the simple tag "In a world not her own", so we can certainly expect a fish-out-of-water kind of story to come out of this project. (Also, I've seen this sort of story before; what, did she fall into her video game console?) Wherever she's from, our world or elsewhere, the place in which she now inhibits seems to seasaw between medieval and demonic with some far-off shots of hulking monstrosities conjuring up the memory of 'Shadow of the Colossus' in my mind.

Again, as an extreme teaser it's hard to get to grips with exactly what it is that Square are propositioning with this title, but from the vibe of the trailer we can make some guesses. Just as with 'Ratchet and Clank', some of vistas in this trailer are specifically designed to emphasise scale and distance, such as the one featuring our protagonist brooding above a sea of clouds, meaning that either some semi-open world elements are going to be at play here or that this is a new full-action entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise. (Which I find very unlikely) I find this reinforced by one shot of our heroine spinning through the air like sonic before landing in a hero pose, alongside scenes of her jumping large bounds in a single step, indicating impressive moments of traversal and exploration to be a key design pillar for Athia. If that is in fact the case then this will be interesting, Square have never actually made a big budget open-world exploration title before and I'll be curious to see what sort of unique angle they can bring to the premise. (At least it should be more unique than the tag. I wan't the only one who confusedly thought 'Tomb Raider' at the line "She will rise". You guys forgot how you already used that one?)

It's too early to quite pick up on a story or conflict that will arise from this games' narrative, but we can always speculate with the little we've been shown. Already I think it's safe to say that the demon-looking beasts with the fires raging in their chests are probably the big threats for the moment, meaning that demon dog and dragon are the ones worth our attention here. Protagonist lady somehow finds herself stranded in the same world as them and in doing so is imbued with special powers and abilities, like the ability to control nature as seen in the trailer. With that little nugget, I find it pertinent to broach whether or not nature and our relationship with the wild is going to be a core theme here. Although there are some shots of man-made structures, most of what we see in the trailer is of nature or overgrown ruins, indicating that this is a world that has been abandoned and reclaimed by the natural spirits. Perhaps our protagonist represents some sort of guardian for nature (She's the Avatar!) and does battle against these monsters in that pursuit. Again, I'm grasping at straws right now, I don't have anything concrete to build upon. But in my head cannon that's what this game is for the time being.

Visually, which I think was meant the main focus of the trailer, the game looks good enough to be at this event. I wasn't really blown away by anything I saw, even if bits of it were pretty impressive. (Such as the fluffiness of the clouds.) As I've implied, I'm not really the sort of person to be swooned by graphical fidelity, as I appreciate an arresting design direction more, and in that regard this game has done little to impress thusfar. The game seems to be going for grounded realism in it's design, which doesn't inherently mean that things have to be boring so-to-speak, but when coupled with very grounded-looking, or inspired, enemies I find myself lacking in eye candy. "Oh that looks like a wolf, great. Seen those before". There's nothing to drag me away into a new world beyond my imaging. (Even the dragon looked like one of the more generic of his species) . Now of course, we haven't seen the best this game has to offer but they could have thrown in something wild there to keep us interested. The most 'otherwordly' thing I saw from this trailer (besides the demon fire wolf) was the curious land formations sticking above the clouds and even then, they just looked like the exact same formations one would see in Duscae from Final Fantasy XV. Speaking of which...

This is the game that the FFXV team are now working on, which means that this is the game they abandoned their extended DLC plans to pursue. Now I will admit that this fact alone does inherently make me a fan of their work, but I'm a bigger fan of the wider Final Fantasy aesthetic so I won't give 'Project Athia' the benefit of my excitement just yet. The generic tinge to the design does quite confuse me, as this is a Square Enix game we're talking about and they are quite literally renowned for strange and uncompromising designs. If ever you've seen concept for a character and thought "Huh, they looked better in the drawing than in person"; then you probably weren't looking at a Square game because they rarely ever make that compromise. Their artists work wonders to capture the vague emotions bouncing around the heads of their imagineers and that's part of what makes this studio special, yet I see none of that profound creativity reflected here. But at the end of the day, this is a very light teaser and analysing it too hard is clearly a losers game. So rock on, Project Athia, and show us something we didn't know that we wanted next time, Square. You've always been good at that...

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

This is Ratchet AF

Here's a game that I wasn't expecting, but then again I don't know why, it seems that the gang always make their way to Sony at least once a generation. 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart' marks the first time we've seen this dynamic duo since their movie debut which was actually just a stitched composite of the PS4 game's cutscenes into a 2016 embarrassment. (That came out on my birthday, urgh. As though that day needed to be even more cursed...) This marks a brand new opportunity for the franchise to serve as a showcase for all that the newest generation of consoles has to innovate upon, and to their credit, this is actually one of the first games which has managed to tease that very well. Extraordinarily well, in fact, to the point that I am genuinely impressed by what I've seen. (Huh, being impressed isn't really an emotion I'm used to, how strange...)

I'm not exactly a die hard purist when it comes to the 'Ratchet and Clank' games, but I do have some limited experience of playing them as a kid, so I understand the hype. These games came out in a time where action adventure roaming games were a dime a dozen, and yet this title still managed to stand out on the virtue of the unique offerings that it bought to the table. Namely, 'Ratchet and Clank' felt like a more mature take on the genre, with the cool sci-fi themes and a huge arsenal of exotic weaponry; and they also managed to nail the feeling of adventuring around new and exciting worlds that felt different and distinct from one another. Additionally, these were some of the first games wherein I experienced what it was like to search for collectables that actually felt worthwhile. They weren't just hear to fill a percentage completion bar, they had a marked effect on the way the game played and that made the search feel so much more special.

Of course, after the PS2 I've never owned a PlayStation (sad face) and so I've been missing out on the 'Ratchet and Clank' games ever since. But given the strength of the brand I can only assume that they've managed to keep up their unique brand of magic, especially as they remain and action adventure games in a world that seems thoroughly through with that concept. (They remain the celebrated exception.) As such I always smile whenever I see our favourite rodent (Wait, Lombrax are cats? I thought they were weasels all this time!) and his adorably compact metallic sidekick, these are never games that are subject to substantial dips in quality or avaricious tendencies. (With the obvious exception of that cash-grab of a movie.) Thus it was wise of Playstation to stick these guys so prominently in this event showcasing the future, because if Insomniac Games is shaping up to represent the face of PlayStation's future, then that means Sony is making a dedication to quality over quantity. (Hope you're taking notes, Microsoft.)

From the announcement, fans were greeted with a current engine rendition of their Lombrax protagonist, and it's safe to say that ol' Ratchet has honestly never looked better. His model alone seems to have finally shirked that strange 'shaved-cat' aesthetic that he faintly conveyed in earlier depictions, and the quality of his fur is honestly top tier. (I'm talking Sulley levels of fur modelling here.) But even more then that, the animation in general shines on a frankly astounding levels for a fully featured video game. From the smallest insect to the shape of the land itself, this game looks like one of those high-effort animations that Blizzard put out once every 4 years or a newer Pixar movie. It's insane the level of detail and quality that we're seeing here and I feel it makes a suitable testament to the quality of the team and even, at the slight stretch, the equipment that they are using to bring all this together. I think it's safe to say that 10 years ago no one ever thought they'd play a game that looked and breathed as well as a blockbuster animation would, yet here we are.

Of course, for this reveal the opening shots are very much just the appetiser, and the meat of the trailer contains the real eye-bulging content. After being ambushed by some shiny robots, Ratchet and Clank mount on a very seamless chase scene wherein they are thrown through a rift and into a whole other world within the blink of an eye. This entire sequence reminded me of that PS5 tech demo which everyone was losing their minds about a few weeks back, of the woman flying through high detail environments at Mach 5. I don't usually look to tech demos to being much of  a benchmark because usually their ideas are theoretical and rarely directly reflect the sorts of games you'll actually be playing. Looks I was in the wrong this time, however, because that is pretty much exactly what this rift-shifting scene showed off in explicit detail; high-speed loading and insane detailing.

As Ratchet is haphazardly chucked from world to world we see a showcase both of the variety and scope of the game in question and the nauseating possibilities of the next generation. We see drastic shifts in environment, colour palette and lighting situations, all rendered without any glaring hiccups or inconsistencies. We see Ratchet move fluidly from riding a small animal, to grinding a railing, to falling, to sliding down a building, to flying on a wyvern to fighting. And we see scale, depicted in some many fashions. Huge cityscapes, to bottomless chasms and ever-stretching oceans; it's clear what sort of image that Insomniac are trying to establish for their newest game, and what sort of reputation that Sony want to leech for their own tech. This is the platform built for endless exploration, for creating whole new worlds and for horizons that you never quite reach. That is the power of the Playstation 5.

With that, I can safely say that 'Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart' is one of the first games that I've seen during one of these events that I can say totally deserves it's spot at a next-gen reveal event. (I mean, 'Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2' looked impressive too, but this showcase actually had gameplay) From what we've seen, everything that this trailer showed off was quite frankly impossible on the current generation of consoles; loading entire worlds and switching between them simultaneously, holding a consistently unjittering framerate and keeping so much action on screen at once. Finally I'm starting to understand what to look at for in the newest generation of games and what I should be excited to experience, whilst before it was all just vague promises that the graphics kinda looked better probably. So good job Insomniac, for actually performing your job and drumming up excitement for the next gen unlike almost every other game which is just courting buzz for themselves.

 The trailer ends with a stinger of Clank coming face to face with a lady Lomrax. Again, I haven't played enough R&C to recognise the significance of this. I vaguely recall a plot point of Ratchet's species being rare, but that just be a cliche that my subconscious has transplanted from any number of similar stories. Irregardless, the trailer has done it's job and I, along with so many others, am now supremely interested in this title. (If only it wasn't an exclusive and I had any feasible chance of actually playing it. Alas.) As the second trailer of the event, this certainly did set a good precedent for the event and, in my opinion, is a big reason why folk came away sold on the PlayStation 5. (Insomniac did it again.)

I hate: Enemies who heal

Leave the 'Phoenix Down' at home, kiddos.

Okay, this a sore one. A real personal moment of fuelling my vitriolic tar-black hatred for that repugnant stain within the armpit of humanity that we deign to legitimise with the tag 'healers'. No, I'm not talking about those who pick 'priest' in an MMO, as a former tank I pretty much lived off those guys, I'm talking about the acrid weeping-pustules from the land of NPCs who devote themselves to the healing arts. Screw them, screw them all. May they all be bound, gagged, tarred, feathered, drawn, quartered, defenestrated, dismembered, decapitated, bought back to life, choked, poisoned, stabbed, shot, dragged from rope across broken glass, electrocuted, and slowly dipped into Mount Doom whilst hoards of onlookers clap and shout cutting remarks directed towards them. 'Hatred' doesn't begin to describe my feelings towards them; I loathe them, I despair at their very existence, I surrender all faith and piety to a theoretical higher being in the knowledge that no such intelligent creature would ever knowingly curse it's children with such an unforgivable blight. No sir, I don't like it.

But let's rewind for a second and start at it all over again. Grow ourselves new skin. (Nope. I'm quoting songs as a coping mechanism, again. Have to focus!) Sigh. So you know how it is, don't you? You've just fought your way through a particularly gruelling dungeon, or scenario, and am starting to glow with the self-righteous aura of the victorious. You charge into the next fight, confident in your abilities, only to realise that your might was an illusion, your success a smokescreen, and that everything you've ever loved or will love will wither and die. The enemy is healing from the damage that you've dealt them, in fact, it's even worse because they are out-healing the damage that you're hitting them with. This man is so unimpressed with your concerted effort to snuff out their life force that they're staring you down, dead-pan, eye-to-eye whilst pushing out the bullets that your stuffing into them faster than you can press the trigger. And it hits you; all is lost. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.

Now first of all, as is the case with this blog, I have to play devil's advocate, because even Lucifer himself isn't foul enough to defend this practise himself. It is the desire of every video game developer to construct the sort of variety in content and gameplay that will lend their game depth and replay value, and that goes from scoring various tracks, to building various environments to, yes, even birthing a variety of enemies. Stagnancy is death, and variety and challenge encourages engagement and passion. 'Healers' are a very typical enemy archetype to find in games as they are rather simple to envision and can greatly change up one's tried and true stratagem for tackling a tough area. Whereas usually they might go for the strategically sound choice of taking out weaker units before facing the tougher ones, (Or the insane 'go-fo'-broke' strat of 'kill the biggest guy in the room') now they have to target healers or risk a much more gruelling fight than usual.

In addition, granting the act of healing to a NPC is rarely beyond the pale of acceptable boons for an NPC to be assigned. I know I'm generalising here, but typically in the sorts of games where you have enemies who heal not just themselves but their teammates, they hail from the sorts of games where such an ability is sensible within the lore of that world, and usually in situations where the player too has access to some healing ability. In the search of a fair challenge between the player and the computer, something which I long for in the games that I play, I applaud games who give both sides access to the same level of tools. (excluding, of course, games when the technology disparity is the point, such as in the 'Batman Arkham' series or the early stages of any Ubisoft game ever.) So there you have it, all the reasons off the top of my head why 'healing' is a good thing for enemies to possess in games. Now let my unreasonable rage take over as I systematically tear down each of my own points.

Variety, huh? Talk about the lowest common denominator of variety. All you've done is attached an elastic band to this guys health bar so that he takes just that little bit longer to grind into dust. Think about it, how many actual memorable video game bouts were made by the healers? Ornstien and Smough? It was the disparity between fast + light and heavy + slow. Dancer of Boreal Valley? It was her gracious fluid movement that was rhythmic and deceptive. The end? Is was the quite patience and creeping stealth. I know I picked out some of the biggest bosses in gaming but who better to learn lessons from? They were enriched by complex variables that challenged the player's actual skill, rather than frustrating gimmicks that kept them hammering away just a little bit more than usual. At it's absolute best, healers are nothing more than an artificial inflation to the length of the fight, at it's worst they are a headbanging roadblock that brings the entire pace to a screeching halt.

Now as for 'fair' competition. This is one that particularly gets under my skin because, as I said, I am a proponent for fair competition. But you see, one of the requirements for establishing fair competition, one of it's key defining characteristics if you will, is that the resources available to both parties be comparable; but that's never really the case in games, now is it? In most titles where the player is giving the ability to heal themselves it comes with some sort of limiter, a balancing device to ensure that the power is not overused. (Shout-out to those folk who charge into the Dragon Age archdemon with 200 potions!)  

Be that a limit to the resource pool available (only a certain amount of mana/magicka) to a hard limit on the heal itself, (miracles and Estus flasks) the laws of balancing dictate that there must be some sort of limiting mechanic. But this is rarely so for NPCs, indeed most of the time their ilk are free to spam spells quite literally forever. This can lead to lamentable situations in which you are stuck in battle and wasting limited bullets, or potions on whittling down enemies only for them to invalidate all of your effort by powering through it.

Now, I'll admit that a good portion of my rage is conceived under the pretence of having been deceived. Whenever I see that health bar start refilling myself I feel like my role as a dealer of damage has been missold to me and that's the sort of injustice that cuts deep into my character. I'm sure there are those out there who feel I'm being histrionic with my rantings, and I most certainly am, but that doesn't change my feelings one smidgen. Screw healers, screw healing; I'd rather such a concept not exist in gaming whatsoever; I am dead serious. (Hmm... that wasn't as therapeutic as I hoped... Well, time to hop on Dark Souls and brutally murder some priests!)